The Music Program at ABAC offers instrumental and vocal performing ensembles for the public each year. Several of the major performing ensembles also travel throughout the Southeast and abroad performing for schools, civic groups, and as part of our community concert series.
Music at ABAC
Performances
The Music Program at ABAC offers instrumental and vocal performing ensembles which offer at least 20 musical performances for the public each year. Several of the major performing ensembles also travel throughout the Southeast and abroad performing for schools, civic groups, and as part of our community concert series.
Music Program at ABAC
Non-Major Participation
Not a music major? No problem! Membership in ensembles is open to all ABAC students. Since its inception, the Music Program at ABAC has brought together students of all disciplines with the common purpose of making music. Our ensembles offer non-music majors the opportunity to continue to perform, as well as to gain extra elective credits on their transcripts. If you sing or play an instrument, we invite you to become a member of the ABAC Music Family!
Music Ensembles
Music at ABAC
Concert Band
The ABAC Concert Band provides students the opportunity to perform in a large ensemble setting. Open to both music majors and non-majors, the group is comprised of students from a wide variety of disciplines. The ensemble performs the best of new and standard wind literature and various collegiate and high school directors regularly guest-conduct the group.
In recent years, the growing popularity of the ensemble on campus has necessitated that the Concert Band hold two different concerts each semester to accommodate the demand for seats.
Concert Choir
The Concert Choir is ABAC’s largest choral organization and has enjoyed a reputation of excellence for more than 40 years. The Concert Choir, open to all ABAC students who enjoy singing with a choir, performs a variety of choral literature from the “Messiah” to “Porgy and Bess” and more contemporary selections.
Music at ABAC
Jazz Ensemble
The ABAC Jazz Ensemble is dedicated to performing music that encompasses a broad range of musical styles including swing, bebop, afro-cuban, bossa, fusion and more. The storied group has embarked on three European tours, which included performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, and the opening of the Tour de France in London. Domestically, the group has performed for the opening of the Olympic Games, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Cocoa Beach Jazz Festival, and two World’s Fairs. The ensemble frequently performs at high schools in the area, as well as community events and concerts.
The Music Program also sponsors a yearly jazz festival featuring nationally known performing artists, backed by the ABAC Jazz Ensemble. Past festivals have showcased such jazz greats as Nat Adderley, Bobby Shew, Victor Goines, Bill Watrous, and Kevin Mahogany, as well as the ensembles of Branford Marsalis, Steve Turre, Joe Lovano, Maynard Ferguson, and Count Basie, to name a few.
Music at ABAC
Jazz Choir
The Jazz Choir is an audition-only, comprised of the top vocalists from the ABAC Concert Choir. The group performs a variety of music from the earliest roots of jazz to pieces written by present-day composers. Each year the Jazz Choir participates with the Jazz Ensemble in the ABAC Jazz Festival on campus. Regionally, the Jazz Choir has performed at the Epcot Center and the Pensacola Jazz Festival, among others. The ensemble has also performed at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine as well as the site of the former World Trade Center Towers. Each year, the ABAC Jazz Choir travels with the Jazz Ensemble to perform at the Lakeside Jazz Festival in Port Orange, Florida.
Music at ABAC
Chamber Singers
The ABAC Chamber Singers is a group of singers selected by audition, who perform choral literature from the Renaissance period to more contemporary selections. Members are selected from within the concert choir and frequently perform for campus activities and other community functions.
The ensemble performed with the ABAC Jazz Choir at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and the World Trade Center Site in New York City. The ABAC Chamber Singers were also invited by Dr. Paul Neal to perform Faure’s Requiem with his choirs from Valdosta State University at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall.
Music at ABAC
Small Ensembles
In addition to the large ensembles listed above, the Music Program also offers a variety of small ensemble performance opportunities, including Jazz Combo, Woodwind Ensemble, Brass Quintet, Clarinet Trio, among others.
Music Program Auditions
In addition to the admission requirements of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, students that intend to pursue an Associate of Arts degree in music must audition for the Music Program. This audition may also be used as a scholarship audition.
For auditions, students are required to perform two pieces of contrasting style. Instrumental majors should be prepared to play chromatic and major scales. Piano and voice students should be prepared to perform from memory.
Music scholarships are available in all areas of applied study. Only those applicants who have applied to ABAC as full-time students will be considered for scholarships.
Please be aware that the audition deadline to be considered for a music scholarship is April 1.
Requirements for Auditions
Instrumental Auditions
- Complete the Music Audition Registration.
- Perform the Chromatic Scale and 12 major scales, 2-octave is preferred.
- Prepare two contrasting etudes or solos. One that demonstrates your lyrical playing ability and one that demonstrates your technical proficiency. While both pieces may be classical, at least one solo must be classical in style. The second piece may be jazz if desired.
- Sight-reading.
- Two letters of recommendation must accompany a student’s request for admittance into the ABAC Music program. One letter of recommendation must be from your band director, choral director, or music teacher. Email letters to andrew.peal@abac.edu prior to your audition.
Voice Auditions
- Complete the Music Application Registation.
- Prepare two contrasting pieces, to be performed from memory. The pieces performed should be taken from the standard classical, traditional, sacred, or Broadway styles.
- Sight-reading.
- Two letters of recommendation must accompany a student’s request for admittance into the ABAC Music program. Email letters to mschert@abac.edu or bring to the audition. One must be from your band or choral director.4. Two letters of recommendation must accompany a student’s request for admittance into the ABAC Music program. Email letters to mschert@abac.edu or bring to the audition. One must be from your band or choral director.
ABAC Fine Arts Academy
The extension division of the Fine Arts Department is a community centered learning venue of ABAC. It combines a warm and supportive atmosphere providing the community of Tift County and surrounding areas with outstanding Fine Arts education classes, and high-quality performance opportunities for pre-professional training, continuing education, and lifelong enjoyment.
